1975 Jackie DeShannon – New Arrangement

New Arrangement is an album by Jackie DeShannon, released by Columbia Records  in 1975. It contains the first recording of “Bette Davis Eyes”, written by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974 and covered by Kim Carnes on the album Mistaken Identity (1981). Another song, “Boat to Sail,” that features Brian Wilson and then-wife Marilyn singing backing vocals, was covered by The Carpenters in their 1976 album A Kind of Hush. Robert Christgau wrote about New Arrangement: “As an American songwriter who has escaped the confessional mode, and as a woman who can sing about subjects other than men, DeShannon exemplifies several healthy trends. The main thing this well-made record reveals, however, is an intelligent professionalism that matters about as much as a surge in enrollment in creative writing classes or women’s liberation for female executives.”